Live hunt: Rocky Mountain National Park

[oneisnone]

First stop, shooting speedgoats just east of Raton




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[unclefish]

Kind of. Lol.

No, Chongo and I didn’t get permission to cull the elk herd in RMNP, but we did get a hall pass from the wives to sneak away for the weekend and get some photos of the elk, sheep and all the amazing landscapes and scenery.

Initially the plan was to fly out tomorrow but after realizing how much it would cost to check our camera gear, we made the last minute decision to drive and save those fees as well as not have to deal with a rental car. Plus we will have more opportunities to shoot as me travel across Colorado on the way up and back. Left DFW at 11pm Thursday, stopped at buccees for ice and jerky and are making good time!

Plan to be in Raton pass around sunup and stop for a few Photos, then play it by ear up through CO. Feel free to offer any stop suggestions for some epic photos, we’d appreciate it. This will be my first trip ever to RMNP, and Congo’s first trip strictly for the purpose of photographing, so we expect little sleep, little food and tons of photos and frequent memory card dumps. We’re staying at an Airbnb in Estes park and have passes to the park for all 3 days, so we should be good on entries and opportunities to shoot all hours.

For the nerds in the group, here’s the gear breakdown:
Chongo:
1dX MK ii, Canon 500mm F4 IS, canon 2x extender
5DS, Canon 16-35 F4 IS
Gitzo 5543 tripod with Gitzo mountaineer gimbal head

Myself:
5d Mk iv, Canon 70-200 2.8 IS ii, Canon 2x extender
90d, Canon 10-22 3.5 & Sigma 18-35 1.8 (video lens)
Hand-me-down manfrotto tripod

Hopefully will be posting updates, BTS shots as well as a few edited ones here as we have time. Thanks for tuning in!

Awesome! I follow some RMNP photogs on instagram and the Moraine Valley is loaded with rutting elk right now.

Be aware....apparently RMNP is still doing the timed entry permits thru Oct 12 which require reservations online ahead of time. So get that taken care of before you go.

Timed Entry Permits
Reserve a timed entry permit at Recreation.gov. Reservations can only be made online.

Reservations are currently available through October 12. Timed entry permits are not required beginning on October 13. Entrance passes are still required.
"Not yet released" permits are held until 8 am Mountain Time two days before the entry date (for example, "not yet released" permits for 9/10 will be released at 8 am Mountain Time on 9/8). These permits are currently selling out in five minutes or less.

[Chad_E]

I'll be tuning in. Enjoy that fresh air and be sure to share those pics please!

[AntlerCollector]

This is my kind of hunt.


Shoot everything that moves!

[44mAG]

Have a good trip! Be mindful of the fires up there. A few days ago Estes Park posted an update that the fire was about 10 miles north west of town, and was warning residents to "prepare for possible evacuation". Although, they thought that wouldn't be necessary.

[chongo]

Take Fall River road up to the RMNP visitors center. It is a one way dirt road and should have some good photo ops. Head to the Grand Lake side of the park and take some of the trails in the Kawuneeche valley on that side. Check out the McGregor Ranch north of Estes Park off the road to GlenHaven.

We just entered Colorado. Going to take your advice and try that route.

We’ve got passes for each day but, I imagine we’ll be in the park early enough that we won’t need them (before 6am).

We watched an antelope buck for about 20 minutes repeatedly run off 6 other bucks, ol’ boy is gonna wear himself out! Got to watch him make a few scrapes too.



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[oneisnone]

Update. Took the suggested detour for a ways, stopped at monument lake and then cut back over to I25. PSA: Pueblo CO is a serious disappointment after the first 2 hours of scenery.

Eta 3pm to Estes park, checking in to the house then headed straight to the park to look for wildlife and golden hour landscapes.

[MooseontheLoose]

Can't wait to see the shots this trip provides. Following!

[dustoffer]

I know I don’t have to say this from your dialog— those pixels are free, so take lots of pics.

[oneisnone]

Day 1 Recap:

Short shoot of speedgoats in Raton at sunrise
Got to Estes Park around 3pm, had a catastrophe with the house we were going to stay in, but got that fixed, unloaded and headed to RMNP. Went straight to Moraine Lake and immediately started seeing elk. The big 6x6 that we'd heard about was across the meadow and out of range of even the mighty 500mm with converter, so after a few pics there we walked down about a half mile and came across another herd much closer to the road. There was one bull and around 20 cows, from 50 to 5 yards away! We spent about an hour shooting that herd and then a younger bull came in to try and seperate a few of the cows and was quickly run off by the other bull. It was my first time seeing elk in person and it did not disappoint.

Headed back out around 5am tomorrow to catch the herd at sunrise and then take trail ridge road up and around to see what we see! Dumping photos now, I took around 1100 and Chris got around 1300. Will hopefully have some to post soon!

[chongo]

I'm still culling today's photos but, here's a few from today. The light was amazing tonight.
Bull Elk Bugle, Moraine Park RMNP by Chris Jeans, on Flickr

While driving through NM we spotted a herd of antelope not far from the road so we pulled over and snapped a few pics. It was exciting watching the dominant buck repeatedly chase off the 6 other suitors.

Young Antelope Hiding Behind Mom by Chris Jeans, on Flickr

[tlh2865]

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing

[oneisnone]

Got back to moraine park at 530am. Waiting on sunrise to see if we can get a few more bull elk pics and then we’re headed up trail ridge road to look for moose and bighorn



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[manwitaplan]

I’m in.


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[Hawkpuppy 1]

Would love to do a trip like this one day. Leaving for Colorado down between Creede and Lake City on Wednesday for fishing, but thinking I'm dragging along the big glass just in case an opportunity arises....